Beaches are more than just strips of sand for sunbathing, surfing or strolling. Beaches and salt marshes are complex and dynamic systems with many interconnected components that merit protection because of their beauty, fragility, and ecological and economic importance. Their protection means ensuring the entire system is protected, including sediment sources and adjacent coastal features like salt marshes.
Migratory shorebirds such as the endangered Piping Plover need beaches for breeding, feeding and shelter.
Intensifying development on and adjacent to beaches causes habitat loss, disrupts natural coastal processes and alters the natural systems and their functions, making these systems more vulnerable to floods, storm surges, accelerated erosion and sea level rise. Driving and walking through sand dunes destroys the vegetation and destabilizes the dune system, making it more vulnerable to erosion and blowouts.
This is a serious problem along the beach ecosystems of Atlantic Canada. The health of these vital ecosystems is a responsibility we all share.
Lawrencetown Beach Provincial Park has a network of boardwalks to protect the dunes from damage. The park has been redesigned in recent years and work on the new infrastructure is ongoing.